View source for Engineering:Panoply

{{short description|Complete suit of armor, especially of a Greek hoplite}}
[[File:Greek bronze panoply in RMO AvL.JPG|thumb|A bronze helmet and [[Engineering:Muscle cuirass|muscle cuirass]] of an ancient Greek panoply, on display at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden]]

A '''panoply''' is a complete suit of armor. The word represents the [[Social:Ancient Greek|Ancient Greek]] {{wikt-lang|grc|πανοπλία}} (''{{grc-transl|πανοπλία}}''), where the word {{wikt-lang|grc|πᾶν}} (''{{grc-transl|πᾶν}}'') means "all", and {{wikt-lang|grc|ὅπλον}} (''{{grc-transl|ὅπλον}}'') means "arms". Thus, ''panoply'' refers to the full armor of a hoplite or heavily-armed soldier, i.e. the [[Engineering:Shield|shield]], [[Engineering:Breastplate|breastplate]], helmet, and greaves, together with the [[Engineering:Sword|sword]] and [[Engineering:Spear|spear]].<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Panoply |volume=20 |page=681 |inline=1}}</ref>

As applied to armor of a later date, ''panoply'' did not come into use until the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century, and was then used of the complete suits of plate armor covering the whole body.<ref name=EB1911/>

Because a panoply is a complete set of diverse components, the word ''panoply'' has come to refer to any complete or impressive collection.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==

[[Category:Body armor]]



{{Sourceattribution|Panoply}}